Healthy Diet for August 21 – Another Fishy Story

Buying fish for dinner? These clues can help you judge its freshness and safety:

• Fresh fish fillets and steaks: mild scent; firm, moist flesh; translucent appearance; no browning around the edges; if wrapped, tight undamaged packaging
• Fresh, whole finish: ocean-breeze scent; firm to the touch; stiff ins; tight scales; shiny-“metallic” skin; pink to bright-red gills; clear, bright, protruding eyes
• Shellfish: mild aroma for raw shrimp; scallops that aren’t dry or dark around the edges. Unless cooked, frozen, or canned, clams, mussels, and oysters in their shell should be alive, with slightly open shells that close when tapped.
• Frozen fish and frozen-prepared fish items: frozen sold; mild odor; free of ice crystals and freezer burn
• Cooked shellfish: moist, mild odor; characteristic color (e.g., pink to reddish shells on shrimp, bright-red for lobsters, crabs, and crayfish)

For safety, avoid buying cooked fish displayed next to raw fish. When you shop for fish:

• Go easy on breaded shrimp and fish sticks, which have more fat and calories.
• Fresh fish. Buy just what you’ll eat right away.
• Stock for convenience: canned salmon, tuna, or mackerel, or frozen shrimp or fish fillets or steaks.